Air 3s Amazing Arizona Skies is a hyper lapse experiment that took on a life of its own…

[DaHawaiian]

This “experiment” ended-up taking 3+ years, condensed into 3 1/2 minutes (Arizona has mostly cloudless skies). Three drones, A2s, A3s, M3. Predicting whether a sky will blossom is nearly impossible. All the prediction Apps are as hit and miss as your own eyeballs. Peak colors last less than 5 min., so you have to be ready everyday you’re home. Controlling contrast, color temp, etc. is really difficult, as contrast ranges go beyond the ability of most cameras. A 25 min hyper lapse starts with one guessed setting, but the sky can change dramatically as the sun rises/sets!!
I learned a lot from reading these forums, and by trial and error — mostly error…

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[motocatfish]

BRAVO! Beautiful skies! I love how your fixed exposures accurately showed the changing lighting. Great soundtrack & editing also!

You need to find a video competition that this might win!!!

Catfish ...

 

[shawnski451]

Wow... Absolutely gorgeous! Awesome video!

 

[Nanny Ogg]

Your experiment was a great success! Thanks for sharing.

 

[GFields]

Awesome video!

 

[DaHawaiian]

BRAVO! Beautiful skies! I love how your fixed exposures accurately showed the changing lighting. Great soundtrack & editing also!

You need to find a video competition that this might win!!!

Catfish ...

Geeeez, thanks a lot! The music is a variation of the theme from a British police drama called The Bay. I was looking for the right soundtrack, watched this show and Bingo! Very unique, underrated composer…

 

[DaHawaiian]

Wow... Absolutely gorgeous! Awesome video!

Thanks much, a lot of work…

 

[Dbez1]

Wow! Nicely done.

 

[YVRGUY]

This “experiment” ended-up taking 3+ years, condensed into 3 1/2 minutes (Arizona has mostly cloudless skies). Three drones, A2s, A3s, M3. Predicting whether a sky will blossom is nearly impossible. All the prediction Apps are as hit and miss as your own eyeballs. Peak colors last less than 5 min., so you have to be ready everyday you’re home. Controlling contrast, color temp, etc. is really difficult, as contrast ranges go beyond the ability of most cameras. A 25 min hyper lapse starts with one guessed setting, but the sky can change dramatically as the sun rises/sets!!
I learned a lot from reading these forums, and by trial and error — mostly error…

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Mesmerizing…middle earth

 

[Air2Man]

Absolutely stunning! Well done.

 

[wco81]

How long are the typical exposures?

You're not using the automated hyper lapse, just capturing long exposures separately?

 

[Pacefast]

This “experiment” ended-up taking 3+ years, condensed into 3 1/2 minutes (Arizona has mostly cloudless skies). Three drones, A2s, A3s, M3. Predicting whether a sky will blossom is nearly impossible. All the prediction Apps are as hit and miss as your own eyeballs. Peak colors last less than 5 min., so you have to be ready everyday you’re home. Controlling contrast, color temp, etc. is really difficult, as contrast ranges go beyond the ability of most cameras. A 25 min hyper lapse starts with one guessed setting, but the sky can change dramatically as the sun rises/sets!!
I learned a lot from reading these forums, and by trial and error — mostly error…

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Some amaxing skies in there unique video

 

[Prop Wash]

Congrats on your patience! It certainly paid off. That, sir, is spectacular! Clouds, rain, rainbow - you seem to catch it all. Finalizing with a clear sky moon shot - Perfect.

 

[Geofff]

This “experiment” ended-up taking 3+ years, condensed into 3 1/2 minutes (Arizona has mostly cloudless skies). Three drones, A2s, A3s, M3. Predicting whether a sky will blossom is nearly impossible. All the prediction Apps are as hit and miss as your own eyeballs. Peak colors last less than 5 min., so you have to be ready everyday you’re home. Controlling contrast, color temp, etc. is really difficult, as contrast ranges go beyond the ability of most cameras. A 25 min hyper lapse starts with one guessed setting, but the sky can change dramatically as the sun rises/sets!!
I learned a lot from reading these forums, and by trial and error — mostly error…

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Spectacular video, thanksforsharing. Great dedication and I bet you enjoyed every minute experiencing those awesome sights. Great for the soul.

 

[DaHawaiian]

How long are the typical exposures?

You're not using the automated hyper lapse, just capturing long exposures separately?

Yes, automatic hyperlapse, tried manually, not much difference. Typically 20 minutes. White balance was around 5700 most of the time. I’d set the exposure once I got up to 350’ and had a look around. Every one of these clips was from exactly the same place, just N of my house over an open space area, so not over anyone’s house or yard…

 

[DaHawaiian]

Spectacular video, thanksforsharing. Great dedication and I bet you enjoyed every minute experiencing those awesome sights. Great for the soul.

Absolutely, even got my wife predicting opportunities, because it was so special to witness…

 

[DaHawaiian]

Congrats on your patience! It certainly paid off. That, sir, is spectacular! Clouds, rain, rainbow - you seem to catch it all. Finalizing with a clear sky moon shot - Perfect.

Thanks so much!

 

[wco81]

Yes, automatic hyperlapse, tried manually, not much difference. Typically 20 minutes. White balance was around 5700 most of the time. I’d set the exposure once I got up to 350’ and had a look around. Every one of these clips was from exactly the same place, just N of my house over an open space area, so not over anyone’s house or yard…

What was the typical exposure of each shot, shutter speed and ISO?

Particularly the night shots but also the ones with the sun low on the horizon must have required longer exposures.

Did you clean up the noise before combining the individual frames into a movie?

 

[DaHawaiian]

What was the typical exposure of each shot, shutter speed and ISO?

Particularly the night shots but also the ones with the sun low on the horizon must have required longer exposures.

Did you clean up the noise before combining the individual frames into a movie?

Yes, noise reduction on a few clips using Topaz Video AI, but not many. I also cropped a few about 25% using Topaz. Most of the darker skies were shot with the Mavic 3C, but I increasingly found that platform unstable for long hyper lapse. It just bounces too much, even on calm days.
The exposures varied so much… Sometimes I’d stop a HL, adjust, and start over if I had enough battery. Honestly, in the end, the Air3S was the most useful because of the tele, and rapid deployment. While it doesn’t do as well in the wind (tele HL needs very calm skies anyway), you literally have no time, everything is rushed because the window is so short. You have to launch a 20 minute HL into that window using your best judgement. Hard. I sometimes started too early or too late, watching a great sky while in RTH. Over time I got better at it…
Since the Air3S has a fixed aperture, I had to vary SS and ISO depending on the situation. Always tried to keep the ISO as low as possible. When I say this was trial and error, mostly error, I meant it. 100’s of junk clips.